1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for selective editing in electrostatographic reproduction apparatus, and more specifically to apparatus for highlighting one or more nested areas within a larger area to define which areas are selected for selective editing treatment.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,043, there is described an apparatus for electrophotographically reproducing originals with color accenting. In this apparatus, an original document is placed on a support. Indicator members adjacent the support are adjusted to designate the location of lines to be reproduced in a special treatment mode such as spot color. Similarly, in related U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,450 to Mosehauer et al., a digitizing tablet in a multicolor reproduction apparatus is used to input information on the location(s) to be selectively reproduced.
However, the indicator members or the digitizing tablet must be co-located with the support and the original, and adjustments must be made while at the copying machine. It is thus desirable to eliminate the necessity for editing the original while at the copier. Further, manipulation of moveable indicators and other such devices is a tedious and painstaking effort.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,182, an image processing apparatus has CCDs for reading image data of an original, an edge detector for detecting edges of an area specified on the original with a loop or marks of a specific color, and an area detector for detecting the specified area. Also provided are memories for storing the image data read by the CCDs and a data selector and a data switching circuit for selecting the image data read by one of the CCDs which is to be supplied to an inkjet head for recording. For preventing contamination of the original, the loop or marks can be drawn on the original through an original cover including a transparent or semitransparent sheet member facing the image of the original. Images inside and outside the area or areas can be selectively reproduced in various combinations of the normal mode, red output modes involving different types of color conversion, and extinguishing mode. Image data from another source which is stored in another memory can be inserted at a desired part of the reproduced copy.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,374 (Kurata et al), a picture data processing device is disclosed. A separate sheet, referred to as a mark-specifying original, is employed to draw lines comprising boundaries for the portion selected for extraction. The mark-specifying original is "read" by an image sensor and count value signals stored that are related to these boundary lines. The document sheet is then read by an image sensor. The data signal used to reproduce the original is inhibited by these signals except for the region which is to be extracted. However, productivity is substantially lowered by the time and effort spent on preparing and using the mark-specifying original with each original. When a multisheet document is to be reproduced with selective editing desired for several sheets in the document, the use of extra mark specifying sheets requires an inconvenient, time-consuming step: the sheets must be identified by interleaving or sequencing them with their respective originals.
The above methods and apparatus are in need of simplification. The use of keys, buttons, or other data entry devices (such as the digitizing tablet) is a time consuming hindrance when preparing an original for copying. Such methods are feasible only at the apparatus chosen for making the copies. Moreover, the task of editing--which typically entails the selection of one or more special treatments per original document page--is often one that is done best (or most conveniently) at a place away from the reproduction apparatus. In fact, that task is most often performed during the usual editing process at a desk, office, or other workplace and not at a copier. The editor is then forced to retain editing directions in memory, or annotate the original sheet in pencil, if not on scrap paper. The directions are then inputted later to the copier or other apparatus. It is further desirable that an original (that has been prepared for special treatment) be useable at any one of several reproduction apparatus that is equipped with the proper sensing and logic means.
The above difficulties are addressed in related U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,510. In the '510 patent, an original document sheet that is to be reproduced with special treatment such as spot color or color accenting may be highlighted by the use of a highlighting instrument. Each selected area is enclosed (highlighted) with a loop of ultraviolet (UV)-active highlighting ink. The original is then scanned to provide signals indicating the locations of the selected areas. The information from the document sheet is imaged upon an electrostatically charged photoconductor and developed so that the selected (highlighted) areas are reproduced according to treatment mode information from a control panel. Several areas on one page are treated similarly if each area is properly highlighted.
One problem that has not been easily resolved is the indication, interpretation, and treatment of multiple selected areas that are nested (i.e., one or more secondary areas are located within a larger primary area). The selected area may be ambiguously interpreted as a) lying within the outermost loop (and hence treated according to the mode specified for the outermost area), b) within one or more of the nested (inner) loops, or c) within one or more of the various inter-loop regions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,510, the use of nested loops is not addressed. However, code marks, located in a selected margin area of the original, are described as distinguishing between different areas of highlighted information. The code marks are read and deciphered by a logic and control unit (LCU) and thus the operator need not input such information manually on a control panel. Even so, code marks are still difficult to use in that the mark is esoteric (it is not immediately recognizable as representing its respective treatment mode) and inconvenient (the mark may be accidentally omitted or drawn incorrectly.) Some reproduction jobs require that more than one treatment mode be applied to a particular original sheet. Therefore, marks placed at the margin are themselves subject to ambiguity, in that the exact positioning of a mark is critical. Furthermore, a system of code marks, if forgotten, is difficult for the casual user to reconstruct.
For some users, a hierarchy of code marks can be confusing to use and difficult to remember. The typical editor is more comfortable using a marking instrument that is dedicated specifically to indicating corrections. For example, in using a conventional pen or pencil, the editor may use red marks to denote "erasure" and blue marks to denote "insertion". Further, there are instances (typically in the graphics arts field) wherein many areas are selected on one page, and the code hierarchy described above becomes too complicated and consequently is burdensome to follow. Hence, a simpler scheme is needed, especially by the occasional or casual user of the loop-based highlighting scheme discussed above.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simplified apparatus for highlighting one or more nested areas within a larger highlighted area. The apparatus would unambiguously define which areas are selected for treatment and which are not. The preferred apparatus would include a marking instrument that is easy to use and would clearly indicate the relationship between any one of several highlighted loops. The marking instrument would be as easy to use with one nested loop as it would be with many nested loops. The apparatus would include a scanning means for detecting and processing the highlighted areas. The apparatus would preferably be adapted for use in the variety of reproduction apparatus described hereinabove.